Little Monkey
by Anytha84
Summary: Jemma is going to a conference and leaves Leo and their daughter home. A snippet of married FitzSimmons being adorable with their baby. Based on a manip made by #darkfitzsimmons: Baby FitzSimmons snuggling a stuffed toy. HEADCANON SERIES.


Based on the manip made by darkfitzsimmons: FitzSimmons Social Media AU; in particular the one of Baby Fitzsimmons snuggling a stuffed toy. You should seriously see her manips: they're adorable.

Thanks to my Beta StarryDreamer01 who helped me edit this.

Hope you like it.. :)

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN AGENTS OF SHIELD OR THE JUNGLE BOOK.

 _Little Monkey_

"The formula is in-"

"-the bottle in the fridge."

"You have to heat it-"

"-for less than two minutes-"

"-and check the temperature before-"

"-giving it to Kathleen, I _know_ , Jemma."

Leo stared at his wife with an arched brow and looked slightly offended. Jemma smiled softly before stepping forward and kissing him quickly.

"I know, Leo," she whispered, brushing a finger against his lips to ease the little pout he was sporting; she smiled when he smiled at her.

"Jemma, you'll be gone for less-"

"-than a day, I know," Jemma played with the strip of her bag and sighed. There was a biochemistry conference in London and she had been asked to take part as one of the lecturers; her research on alien biology had caught the attention of many other scientists and they were all eager to hear about her latest works.

The scientist in her was quite proud of her fame and achievements and she had prepared quite a detailed speech with slides and pictures to show during the lecture. But now that she had to leave, the other, new part of her was quite reluctant to go.

A small gurgle made her turn around and Leo was already leaning into the crib to pick up their daughter. Jemma smiled as her husband cooed softly and bounced Kathleen in his arms, making faces at her. Their four month old baby waved her chubby arms and giggled at her father's antics.

Leo laughed and scrunched his face into a pout that was ridiculous and made Jemma laugh and Kathleen swatted his cheeks with her hands.

Something warm filled Jemma's heart as she watched her family -her _everything_ really- and she was once again unsure whether to leave. Leo glanced at her and shook his head, clearly understanding what was going on in her mind.

"Jemma..." He warned lightly. "Everything will be fine. You can go and have fun at the conference; I know that you'll enjoy yourself."

"Yes, but.." Jemma stuttered.

"Don't worry, love."

"It's just..." She took a breath and smiled slightly, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers. "It's just the first time that-"

"-you're leaving her," Leo finished and approached her, firmly holding Kathleen in his arms. "I know."

Of course he would know...

They walked downstairs in silence and stopped once they were in the living room.

Leo smiled and held their daughter out to her. Jemma dropped her bag to the floor immediately and took Kathleen in her arms, bouncing her and marvelling of how much she'd grown.

Her baby was gurgling and staring at her with big blue eyes; her hair had started to grow thicker and resembled her own honey coloured strands.

Smiling softly, Jemma ran a finger against her smooth cheeks and kissed her forehead.

"You'll be a good girl, won't you?" She asked, inadvertently taking the tone that Leo had dubbed as her 'mother-voice'. "Don't make daddy panic-"

" _Oy_!" Leo retorted. "It was just one time! And she was crying desperately because she was colicky."

"-and keep an eye on him, hmm?" Jemma finished teasingly, brushing another kiss against her daughter's hair and looking at her husband with a fond smile.

"Don't listen to your mum, baby girl," he remarked, wrapping his arms around both of them and leaning forward so that their heads touched and they were sort of cocooning Kathleen between them. "We'll have a great time."

"Oh really now?" Jemma looked up at him and smiled bemusedly. "What shenanigans have you planned?"

"Nothing: only lots of playing and reading. And more playing." Leo grinned as he took Kathleen back in his arms. "We might also get to watch some cartoons too, eh?" Their baby babbled softly.

"I do wonder who's the child between the two of you..." Jemma commented, picking up her bag and watched him smile and make faces at Kathleen as he held her in his arms. She smiled as she recalled how terrified he'd been at the thought of being a father and how tentative he'd been while holding their little baby, scared to hurt her.

They had both been scared -they were _still_ terrified, mind you- but they were getting better at it. They were growing as parents along with their child. Together.

A loud honking made them turn toward the door: the SHIELD car that was meant to take her to the airport had arrived.

Jemma turned around, feeling the little weight in her belly come back again. Leo looked at her with fond exasperation.

"Don't worry," he said and kissed her softly as he balanced their baby with one arm. "We'll be fine."

"Alright..." She cupped his face and kissed him again, slowly. "If you need anything-"

"I'll call you rightaway," Leo promised and she nodded, feeling slightly better. Jemma leaned down to kiss Kathleen's head.

"See you later, darling," she whispered. "Mummy will be back home as soon as possible. Take care of daddy, hmm?" The baby gurgled, moving her arms and Jemma smiled.

"See you later, sweetheart," Leo said and she smiled again. As she walked to the door, Jemma turned around one last time and found two identical sets of blue eyes staring at her. The warmth that surged in her chest was almost overwhelming.

"Behave, alright?" She said with a teasing tone. "Both of you." Leo grinned.

"Bye, Mummy," he said in his baby voice as he took one of Kathleen's hands and waved. Jemma raised a hand and waved back.

"Bye, loves."

When she was in the car and going to the airport, Jemma glanced back until her house was out of sight and sighed softly to herself.

She was being ridiculous, she knew that, and yet she couldn't help but feel a bit emotional as she left her family behind.

Taking a few moment to have her emotions back in control, she opened her bag to check her notes and frowned slightly when she noticed a post-it stuck on the front of her notepad.

 _Dear Mummy,_

 _Have fun at the conference and show everyone who Jemma Fitz-Simmons is! We'll be waiting to hear about it tonight. Love, Leo & Kathleen._

A beaming smile appeared on her face and she took the little note and put it carefully in her purse. Feeling more focused, Jemma went through her notes and managed to feel excited about the conference again.

-:-

The first half of the conference had been very interesting. Jemma had listened with rapt attention to the most recent theories and developments in the biochem world. Being a SHIELD consultant had given her the opportunity to be a little more active in the world of academia but it didn't mean that she could publish works or have constant communication with other scientists worldwide. Nor did anyone know the full extent of her work; once SHIELD had been restored as a governmental agency again, secrecy had been newly restored as well. Only a handful of people could work or talk with her, excluding Leo.

Jemma had been particularly thrilled about the conference because Helen Cho would be there and even though they had exchanged emails in the past, they'd never met before. Knowing her work and her familiarity with the Avengers, Jemma was extremely eager to listen to her lecture.

There was a two hour break for lunch and all the scientists got something to eat from the free buffet and ate alone or with other colleagues in the large garden facing the conference room.

Jemma got herself a plate and a glass of water and sat at a table that faced Kensington Garden. It was a lovely day, warm enough to stay outside in her blouse and cardigan and bask in the sunlight.

She had seen a few familiar faces in the crowd: old Academy or Sci-Ops colleagues that made small talk to her and a few scientists that she had met in other conferences throughout the years.

Some had asked her about Fitz, knowing that wherever she was, he would be. At her explanation of his absence, she noticed that many had a sort of knowing look before nodding.

Had _everyone_ always known that she and Leo had been in love? Had they been so obvious about it even when they didn't know it themselves?

Jemma mused about the rollercoaster that had been their relationship since they joined SHIELD as she ate alone and she was immensely glad that they'd come through it all together. Now they were married and with a beautiful baby: everything was perfect.

She had just finished her plate when her phone pinged with an alert, telling her that she'd received a message. She quickly swiped the screen to read it.

[13:40 - From Leo]: Skype? ;)

Her answer was immediate as she pulled out her tablet from her handbag. Having an engineer around was extremely handy when it came to gadgets: she always had the lightest and most performing device with her.

[13:41 – To Leo]: Ready when you are. :)

She tapped the app and logged into her account and less than a minute later, she was looking at Leo's grinning face.

"Hi..." She said, smiling widely.

"Hey," he replied, shifting his tablet a bit to put it straighter. "How's it going?"

"It's quite interesting," She rested her chin on her palm. "Lots of new research material for me to work on when I have time."

"Anything good for me?"

"There are a few biotech devices and new application theories," She grinned as his eyes lit up. "If you were interested, you could have come with me, you know?"

"No... I've known you for long enough to know how biochem conferences are," He grimaced. "Remember the one in Chicago, when we were at Sci-Ops?"

Jemma snorted.

"The one when you ran out of the room?"

"That woman was showing pictures of a human dissection!"

"You're too squeamish, Leo."

"I'm not squeamish! I just happen to be perfectly happy in not wanting to see literal bloody organs. There's a reason if they're inside the human body: we don't see them!"

"You're impossible..." Jemma commented and laughed as he pouted, looking indignant. "How's everything at home?"

"All fine," he replied promptly, sinking back onto the couch. She heard voices in the background so she assumed that he was watching something on the television. "Little Monkey and I are having some quality father-daughter bonding time."

"We're not calling her that!" Jemma said with a laugh.

"Yes, we are," Leo stuck his tongue at her and she shook her head in exasperation.

"Where is she anyway?"

"Here," Leo manoeuvred the tablet and Jemma smiled as she saw Kathleen sitting in her support pillow on the couch next to him with her hands and a gummy toy in her mouth.

"Hi, darling," she cooed and their baby turned to her side, mouth open and eyes wide. She seemed puzzled for a moment and then reached for the screen with her slobbery hands.

"No, no, little monkey, you'll get mummy all wet like that," Leo chided and Jemma laughed as she saw the screen move hazardously as he tried to move it away from their daughter's grasp.

Kathleen whined slightly and Jemma knew that she were on the verge of a crying fit. Leo seemed to know it as well because he immediately put the tablet on the couch's arm (making everything fully visible to Jemma) and took care of their baby.

"No, baby girl, everything's fine," he said softly but she still fussed. "Now, come on... You don't want me to look bad in front of Mum, yeah?" He took her in his arms and bounced her slightly until she calmed down and then made her sit on his lap. Jemma smiled fondly as she watched them.

"You're doing a wonderful job, love," she said softly and immediately covered her mouth with her hand, berating herself for talking right now that Kathleen had calmed down.

However, her baby didn't seem to hear her. Her eyes were transfixed by whatever was going on the television screen. Leo glanced at her and grinned at her obvious surprise.

"What are you watching?" Jemma asked, wondering what was capturing their daughter's attention. Leo fiddled with the remote control, turning up the volume.

" _Hup, two, three, four! Keep it up, two, three, four."_

Jemma cocked her head to a side.

"Leo, is that the Jungle Book?" She asked and her husband flashed her another bright grin. "Are you attempting to make our daughter like monkeys using your favourite Disney film?"

"No?" He didn't even bother to grin a bit less.

"You're a terrible liar."

"Ha... you're the one to talk." Jemma rolled her eyes. Kathleen chose that moment to laugh loudly and wave her hands to the screen. Apparently, she was enjoying the scene.

"See?" Leo remarked happily. "She likes _my_ film!"

Jemma wanted to say that it wasn't _his_ film and be slightly affronted that their daughter didn't seem to enjoy Snow White and the Seven Dwarves just as much; all retorts died in her mouth as their baby let out a peal of laughter as the Jungle Patrol's song went on.

" _For to march and drill, over field and hill._ " There was a trumpet noise. " _Is a military goal. Is a military goal."_

Leo beamed as Kathleen laughed loudly and he sang the song along with the film, moving her in his lap in time.

"Hup, two, three, four," he chanted, bouncing their baby on his knees. "Dress it up, two, three, four..." Kathleen laughed gleefully.

Jemma's heart melted at the sight of her family on screen and despite her joy in learning more science, she suddenly yearned to be there with them. Leo turned to look at the tablet that very moment.

"We'll watch it again tonight," he affirmed, looking at her with a smile. "Altogether, yeah?"

Jemma smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," she agreed and watched her husband and daughter laugh and move along with the song. Once the film went on and Kathleen was calm, Leo put her back on her pillow and took the tablet in his hands.

"How much time do you have left?" He asked. Jemma checked her watch.

"Twenty minutes," she replied. "I'm starting the afternoon lectures."

"You'll do great."

"I hope so..." Jemma smiled softly. "I found your message."

Leo grinned bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. All these years and he still blushed when he did something sweet for her...

"Did it work?" He asked and she nodded.

"It was perfect, sweetheart. Thank you."

"Anything for you..." And despite all these years, she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat whenever he showed her how much he cared.

Jemma was sure that she was blushing but it didn't stop her from looking warmly at her husband through the screen. Leo was smiling as well.

She was going to speak again when she caught a movement in front of her and saw a figure approaching her table. Her eyes widened as she recognised the woman,

"Oh my God..." She said breathlessly.

"What?" Leo sat straighter and looked at her in concern. "What's-?"

"It's Dr. Cho!" Jemma stared at the woman who coming closer and closer and was smiling at her. "She's coming here!" The last word came out as a squeak.

"Woah... Jem, relax..."

"B-but... what would she want-?"

"To talk to you perhaps? You have already corresponded and you've both been working in the same fields."

"Leo... Oh my God... She's one of the most important geneticists in the world!"

"And you're one of -or _the_ most- important biochemists in world." He grinned. "Go ahead and talk to her, Jem."

She nodded and smiled slightly.

"Hear you later?" She asked.

"Of course," he replied. "I want to know if you've been invited to the New Avengers Headquarter."

"Leo..."

"Ok, ok... Hear you later. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart."

She waited until his face disappeared from the screen and put the tablet away smiling to herself. She got up once Dr. Helen Cho was nearby and greeted with a smile.

"Dr. Cho, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Dr. Simmons," the Korean scientist said with a smile. She then frowned slightly. "Oh, my apologies, it's Dr. Fitz-Simmons now, right?"

Jemma smiled broadly and nodded.

-:-

Jemma was almost bouncing in her seat when she saw her house from the car.

Her lecture had gone very well and she'd been showered in compliments and praises. The best part of the entire day, however, had been talking with Dr. Cho. The woman had wanted Jemma to sit next to her and they'd been exchanging thoughts and observations throughout the rest of the conference.

And they'd also talked about working together in some projects. Jemma was almost bursting with excitement and she couldn't wait to tell Leo. She'd only managed to send him a quick text, saying that she'd be back home before dinner.

Thankfully, her flight had been on time and she didn't have to wait much at the airport. She had only asked the driver to stop on their way to Glasgow when she spotted a toy store with a particular stuffed toy that she instantly decided her daughter would love.

After thanking the driver for his kindness and waving goodbye, Jemma walked down the pebbled road to her home, clutching the plastic bag with her gift and straightening her handbag after getting the keys. She froze instantly while unlocking the door when she heard crying and a familiar Scottish voice trying to be soothing.

Despite herself, Jemma smiled and walked into her home, carefully closing the door behind her. She dropped her things on the hall table and went into the sitting towards the commotion.

She was greeted by the sight of Leo pacing around the couch and cradling a wailing Kathleen. His curls were in disarray as though he had been running his hands through them at some point and looked flushed in the face.

"Shh, shh," he repeated. "Come on, baby girl, don't cry. Daddy's here."

Their daughter was crying loudly, eyes squeezed shut as she let out wails of -Jemma immediately noticed- hunger. The still full milk bottle on the wooden table of the room showed that she hadn't eaten yet and her protests were probably due to the fact that she didn't want _that_ food; Jemma knew that she wanted her milk and poor Leo didn't have a clue.

Taking in her flustered husband for one more second, she approached him, undoing the buttons of her cardigan.

"Let me take her," she said and Leo turned in surprise.

"Jemma? When did-?"

She held out her hands and he deposited their baby in her arms. He looked chagrined.

"I've changed her and tried to make her eat but she didn't-" He tried to explain but Jemma stopped him with a quick peck on his cheek.

"I know... You did well," she said. She bounced Kathleen in her arms, cradling her softly and murmuring soothing words until her cries subsided a bit. Leo looked at her with wry smile as she sat down on the couch, opening her blouse and allowing Kathleen to latch to her breast.

"She just needed you," he whispered, sitting next to her. Jemma glanced at him with a smile and then ran a finger down her baby's cheek as she made soft noises.

"She needs both of us... but there are things that we each do better than the other." She laughed softly. "You always get her to laugh louder than I do."

"Well, you make her stop crying by just holding her," he retorted, putting an arm of her shoulder, enveloping both of them to his side.

"Then we just have to work together. As always." Jemma beamed at him and he brushed a kiss to her head.

"As always," he confirmed and they sat together as she nursed their daughter.

-:-

After dinner, they all changed into their pyjamas and watched the Jungle Book again while sitting on a quilt on the floor. Kathleen was sprawled between them, occasionally, sitting in either of their laps when she fussed a bit.

When the Jungle Patrol appeared, Jemma recalled her trip to the toy store.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She exclaimed, handing their baby to her surprised husband. "I got Kathleen a present."

"What?" Leo turned to look at Jemma with an arched a brow. She grinned at stood up from their seat on the floor and went to retrieve the bag. Two sets of blue eyes watched her as she sat down again and showed them the toy: a large, grey, very soft, stuffed elephant.

Jemma grinned as Kathleen looked at it with wide eyes and then reached for it.

"Do you like it, darling?" She cooed and their baby gurgled, touching the toy with curiosity.

"I thought we had too many stuffed animals in her room," Leo teased her, grinning as their daughter poked and swatted the elephant that was larger than her. He then made her lay between them so that she could play with it.

"That was a warning for you," Jemma replied cheekily. "Otherwise you would have kept buying stuffed monkeys."

"I did no such thing!"

"We had _five_ of them before she was even born."

Leo scoffed and Jemma leaned forward to kiss him quickly. She felt him smile as he lingered in the kiss before drawing back slightly, bumping their foreheads together.

They watched the film, keeping an eye on Kathleen who seemed to want to analyse the elephant's texture poking and slobbering over it. After a while, Leo started asking questions about the conference and they started discussing the various theories and experiments they could do in their basement lab. The film was long finished but they still talked animatedly while looking at their daughter.

"Dr. Cho was quite interested on our work with Kree and Inhumans," Jemma remarked, propping an elbow on the couch to look at her partner.

"Did she?"

"Yes and she said that we can go and visit her in South Korea at her lab at U-Genetics whenever we want." She smiled. "And the invitation was also extended to her lab at the New Avengers Headquarters."

Leo's eyes popped open.

"Really?" He exclaimed. "We could work with Stark too!"

"And with Dr. Banner..." Jemma smiled. "Dr. Cho was talking about getting you involved so that we could help make a better version of her Regeneration Cradle. They're already giving her ideas but... she'd like our opinion too."

"That would be great."

"Yes... I just told her that we'd have to wait until Kathleen was a little bit older. I doubt that a long flight like-" She looked down at their baby and stopped talking. " _Oh_."

The scene was so adorable that her heart melted.

Somewhere along the line when they were talking, Kathleen had tugged the stuffed elephant around her and had fallen asleep. Now, she had her head on its belly and was cuddling one of its legs.

She wished she could take a picture...

Leo shifted on his seat and dug under one of the couch's cushions, pulling out his phone. He smiled at her as he swiped the screen and took a few pictures of their sleeping baby girl, snuggling the toy that was larger than her.

"She's beautiful," he said, tenderly caressing their daughter's hair with a hand and reached for Jemma's hand with the other, entwining their fingers together. Jemma felt the warm surge of emotions that had been swelling in her chest the entire day come back and nodded.

Her life was beautiful now. It wasn't just for their achievements and the simple -yet so important- fact that they'd survived through so many things in these years.

Jemma had Leo and Kathleen: they were all she needed to make everything perfect.

They sat in silence, gently caressing each other's hands as they watched their baby sleep.

And then...

"She should be cuddling a monkey though..."

" _Oh, Leo_!"

* * *

Please, leave a review... :)


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